Detective recounts gun find

A Clarendon police detective testified Thursday that he discovered two firearms hidden in a vehicle driven by former Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus driver Charles McLeary, one of 25 men on trial for crimes allegedly committed by the reputed Tesha Miller faction of the Klansman Gang. That motor vehicle, a 2011 Honda Stream, was one of two seized by investigators after the takedown of five alleged members of the gang on Friday, June 26, 2020. According to prosecutors, the accused — Bjourn Thomas, Sharn Gilzene, Conroy Cadogan, McLeary, and Kemar Francis — “knowingly facilitated the commission of a serious offence to wit the murder of Jermaine Jones and Allen Cameron” in John’s Hall, Clarendon, that same day. They were taken into custody following a highway chase. The detective sergeant, testifying during the ongoing trial which has been unfolding in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston, told the court that he went to the May Pen Police Station on Sunday, June 28, where he was introduced to McLeary, who was then 40 years old and a resident of Portmore, St Catherine; and Thomas, who was unemployed and a resident of Spanish Town. He said after being introduced to the two, he went to the two motor vehicles — which had been sealed with evidence tape — that were parked on the compound accompanied by three other cops and the two accused. According to the cop, who said he only searched one of the two cars, under the direct gaze of McLeary and the others, after partially detaching the glove compartment of the vehicle and looking further into the cavity of the dashboard in a section of the air conditioner’s air filter, he saw “what looked like the base of a magazine and a pistol with a grip”. The sleuth said he “shouted out ‘Find!’” when he made the discovery and pointed to where he observed the objects. He said after ensuring that McLeary not only saw but verbalised what was found, two forensic scene of crime investigators who were present photographed the silver and black 9mm Beretta pistol with the magazine affixed and packaged it. He told the court, under further questioning by the prosecutor marshalling the evidence, that in continuing his search he checked the gear lever section of the car by removing an area closer to the flooring of the vehicle and observed what looked like the pistol grip of a firearm. He said the weapon, which was removed, shown to McLeary, and photographed by the forensic crime scene experts, turned out to be a black Smith & Wesson Springfield .40 calibre pistol with a magazine affixed. That pistol, he said, along with ammunition, was also packaged. The cop said, a further search of the vehicle turned up a pair of shoes in the trunk which McLeary claimed as his. Asked by the prosecutor eliciting the evidence if he would be able to identify McLeary again if he saw him, the detective sergeant answered confidently in the affirmative. He was only allowed to do so, however, after the docks were reshuffled in his absence following a request from McLeary’s attorney Javed Grant.   Interestingly, 15 of the 17 accused who were in the main dock held their heads down from the moment the lawman entered and throughout his entire testimony, only sitting upright after trial judge Justice Dale Palmer instructed that they do so for the identification. The lawman, who returned to the courtroom following the reshuffle, despite several intense moments spent looking at the 25 accused row by row, incorrectly identified the accused Shawn Pottinger as McLeary, sending a ripple of murmurs across the room. The Crown, at that point, indicated that it had no further questions for the cop but would be recalling him in relation to items it intends to tender. Following the failed identification, Grant, in cross-examining the cop, accused him of lying about his observation of the serial number on one of the pistols. According to the cop, he had not touched the firearm but based on his proximity to the scenes of crime officer who retrieved it, had been able to view the number. “I am suggesting to you that you are lying when you say you observed the serial number while the forensic officers handled it,” Grant challenged. “I totally reject that suggestion,” the cop shot back. The 25 accused — the second faction of the gang to now be tried by the courts — are to answer to 16 offences allegedly committed over the span of five years between August 2017 and November 2022, according to the case being built by the Crown. In the matter which began in February this year, the prosecution in unveiling what it said was the “anatomy” of the gang, said it would be leading evidence to show that members acted as drivers, among them Thomas and Francis, along with the accused Dwayne Frater, and Travis Drummond. It said it would establish that McLeary was linked by employment and by role in the criminal organisation.